Ducks can’t climb back this time, drop division clash in Edmonton

EDMONTON, Alb. – The comeback luck finally ran out for the Anaheim Ducks, as the details of the Pacific Division playoff race came into full focus.

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers opened the scoring in the second period and got their speed going for a 3-0 lead in the third period, and despite surging strikes from Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim could not come all the way back in a 4-2 loss at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Lukas Dostal made 30 saves, as the Ducks’ Pacific Division lead was cut down to three points with nine games to play.

“Recently we just haven’t had the right starts to games,” Gauthier said. “To win games in this hockey league, you got to play a full 60 and I’m proud of our group that we always find a way to kind of come back in games and get goals when they matter, but this was an example that we got to start on time.”

Gauthier’s goal was his team-leading 37th of the season, which matches Frank Vatrano’s total from two seasons ago as the most by a Duck since 2014 (Corey Perry, 43).

Anaheim allowed the game’s first goal for the sixth straight game and 15th time in 17 games since the Olympic break. Anaheim has trailed at some point in all 17 games coming out of the break with a 11-5-1 record in that stretch.

“They scored first, and they got rolling there,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “They had a stretch, and then, I think right after, we had maybe our best five minutes of the game, and then they had most of the play over the rest of that period, and scored two goals that were preventable from our part.”

“We had good looks there where we could have tied it, but you know, that was a, I don’t know, tough game.”

Anaheim gave up the opening goal for the league-leading 47th time this season–but the Ducks could not add to their league-leading 25 comeback victories and snapped a four-game win streak, each of which came via comeback.

“I liked our effort,” Dostal said. “We just said something to the locker room that we hope for those, for those better starts… this year is different because we are on the top of the division, and we’re trying to stay there, and, compared to the last couple of years, we have something to fight for.”

The Ducks (41-28-4, 86 points) remain in first place in the Pacific Division, but now by just three points over Edmonton (37-28-9, 83 points). Third-place Vegas (32-26-15, 79 points) hosts Washington later tonight. Anaheim will still have one game in hand on both the Oilers and Knights after today.

Anaheim returns home for another one-game pop-in to Honda Center on Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ducks go to San Jose for a one-game road trip on Wednesday.

Devil in the Details

Unlike the firewagon score fests of the first two Ducks-Oilers game this season, which featured a combined 11 goals in each affair, Saturday’s match-up opened in much more tight-checking, buttoned-down fashion.

“I liked our first period,” Quenneville said. “I thought the pace both ways was fast and hard, and there wasn’t much quality chances, but I think teams are respectful for the opponent’s skill and dangerousness off the rush. The game opened up a little bit when we got behind, but other than that, it was… a lot of meaning to today’s game.”

However, as Anaheim likely marches toward its first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in eight years, the thin margins that these meaningful games are decided by are playing out in front of the Ducks.

“We’re first in the Pacific right now, but not by much,” Gauthier said. “Little details and stuff that gets, can cost you a game, and can cost you a playoff series. So, we’re doing our due diligence to tighten up all those things, and be ready to go, firing all cylinders, going to the playoffs.”

Quenneville labelled a couple of the Edmonton tallies as preventable goals, pointing to those details.

On the Oilers’ opening goal, Ian Moore was unable to dump the puck in at the center red line, and Connor McDavid turned the tables on a Ducks group that was out for over a minute of ice time. Evan Bouchard shot the puck wide, and McDavid shoveled in the rebound off the end boards.

Similarly on Edmonton’s third goal, it was Frank Vatrano that couldn’t keep hold of a puck at the red line, and it was McDavid again springing the play. McDavid tapped the puck around a pinching Jackson LaCombe, and Matt Savoie finished off a two-on-one pass from Vasily Podkolzin around a sprawling John Carlson into the open net, 3-0.

“Managing the puck late in shifts, and whether we get the change, or get it in deep, or sustain the puck, and the neutral zone is part of that,” Quenneville said. “There’s a number of ways they can create offense, and there’s those quick little plays. Then they start the offense from the neutral zone, and they can turn around and bite you.”

With the amount of opening goals the Ducks have allowed, there hasn’t been much margin for error for Anaheim. To the Ducks’ credit, they have still managed those margins with their last 11 wins all coming via comebacks, but they are all realizing this is not a sustainable style of play for a successful playoff run.

“One hundred percent, it’s all about the details,” Dostal said, “and trying to build up the momentum and focus for each situations and try not to make mistakes, but that’s something you work throughout the year, and obviously when the playoffs gets closer, you’re just trying to not make those mistakes, because that’s what’s gonna cost you in the playoffs.”

Additionally, special teams remain a factor. Where the Ducks had scored on six of their previous 12 power plays in the last three games, Anaheim couldn’t take advantage of three power play opportunities in the first two periods in Edmonton to either grab the early lead or tie.

On the flip side, the Ducks held the Oilers’ league-best power play scoreless, 0-for-3 on six shots.

Dostal Keeps Door Open

Despite the 3-0 lead that the Oilers built, Anaheim again relied on the timely brilliance of Lukas Dostal in net to buy time for the comeback.

Dostal flashed the pads on several saves in tight in the first period, and after the Oilers grabbed the lead in the second period, the 25-year-old Czech netminder blanked a couple odd-man rush chances for Edmonton to keep the game at a one-goal margin entering the final 20 minutes.

“His timing has been great,” Quenneville said. “Some great looks on them, all alone. Makes big saves. Stays composed, and rebound control is in effect, and our goaltender’s been good.”

Dostal made 15 saves in the first period, and another 10 in the second period. Three of Edmonton’s eight shots in the third period hit the back of the net, including an empty-netter.

Dostal was far from intimidated facing the Oilers’ speed, joking that adding in the Olympics, he’s likely the goalie that’s played Connor McDavid the most this season. Of course, the least dazzling of McDavid’s game-high six shots on goal was the one that beat Dostal for the opening goal.

Injury Report: Terry returns, Gudas and Mintyukov out

Anaheim‘s health continued to fluctuate on this road trip with more clarity to be had in the coming days.

After sitting out Thursday in Calgary due a lower-body injury, Troy Terry returned to the Ducks line-up on Saturday. Quenneville had said in Calgary that Terry’s absence could be considered another maintenance day, which Terry has had a few of in his return from a second stint with an upper-body injury.

Terry played 17:17 back in his spot on the top line with Leo Carlsson and Chris Kreider and registered two shots. In the quirky statistics, Terry is currently the first player in NHL history to not be credited with a single hit all season with more than 50 games played.

Radko Gudas left Thursday’s game in Calgary with five minutes left in the second period. He was deemed to have a lower-body injury, and the Ducks said on Saturday that Gudas would be further evaluated back in Orange County on Sunday.

Gudas’ absence brings an extra spotlight, as the Ducks host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. It will be the first game between the two clubs since a Gudas knee-on-knee hit took out Leafs captain Auston Matthews for the rest of the season with an MCL tear. Gudas returned from a five-game suspension three games ago in Vancouver.

Pavel Mintyukov is out day-to-day with a lower body injury also suffered in Calgary. Mintyukov took the full brunt of a shot that sent him down to the ice and curled up while the Flames scored the go-ahead goal, at the time. Mintyukov had returned late in the third period of an eventual overtime victory.

Mintyukov was ruled out Saturday.

Elsewhere on the Ducks injury sheet, Jansen Harkins had returned back to Anaheim for further evaluation after sustaining an upper-body injury in Vancouver on Tuesday. Ross Johnston remains out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Playoff Magic Numbers

At (41-28-4) 86 points, the Ducks’ magic number (combined number of points won by Anaheim and lost by the first team out of a playoff spot) to clinch its first playoff berth since 2018 remains at 11.

Los Angeles (29-25-18, 76 points), Seattle (32-29-10, 74 points) Winnipeg (30-30-12, 72 points) and San Jose (33-31-7, 73 points) are those first teams out. If the Kings and Kraken won their remaining games, they would get to 96 points, but Seattle has the regulation wins tiebreaker on Anaheim. The Jets can get to 92 points, and Sharks can get to 95 points.

Anaheim’s magic number to clinch the Pacific Division title is 14, with Edmonton capable of hitting 99 points and holding the regulation wins tiebreaker.